When Matt Dalley fell off his BMX bike and broke his ankle, he had no idea that the accident would actually save his life.

A GP advised him to have a blood test following the incident because Matt, who was aged 19 at the time, had little pinprick bruises on his foot where he'd fallen - and the results came back he was suffering from leukaemia.

Following the shock announcement, Matt, who originally lived in Cornwall, made the brave decision to move miles away from his friends and family to live in Bristol so he could take part in a medical trial.

Matt, now aged 24, said: "I had some blood tests at the doctors and was phoned that evening to go to the hospital to review them. Me and my mum were greeted at the hospital by the staff nurse who, out of nowhere, said, 'you've recently been diagnosed with leukaemia, haven't you?'."

"I was shaken up, but thought she must have been looking at someone else's notes."

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"I had a stressful wait in the side room at the hospital after the incident with the staff nurse and before someone came to speak to me. I was diagnosed then with leukaemia . It turned out my blood results were way too high and by suggesting the blood the GP helped catch it. He saved my ass."

Matt said before the accident he'd never been sick before and this was the first time in his life he'd ever required a blood test.

"On top of the shock diagnosis, I was told it would be best for me to move 150 miles away to Bristol, as that way I could be part of a clinical trial and get the best treatment," said Matt.

"I went home and told my close friends, and the next day I moved up to Bristol. That was a Saturday and I started chemo on the Monday."

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He said: "I wasn't on the Teenage Cancer Trust unit to start with, I was on the adult ward with much older people. I remember being woken really early for breakfast and also getting a noise complaint on my very first day because the metal music I was listening to was 'too aggressive'! It was hard for my friends to visit because of the strict visiting hours and being so far away from home.

"It was a lot to ask for them to come all that way, but they were amazing and all made an effort to support me and let me know they were thinking about me by holding BMX jams to raise money for charity.

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"There was a pool table and games consoles to use if my friends were about, or I could just relax by myself and not be staring at the same four walls in a hospital room. It made the whole experience easier as it didn't feel as much like a hospital environment.

"Teenage Cancer Trust's lead nurse, Jamie, and the Clinical Nurse Specialist, Jax, were both amazing - they know that you want freedom and support and balanced that really well. The Youth Support Coordinator, Hannah, was great too and organised lots of different events, and I still go in for some of them now.

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"I found out the hard way. I was a healthy 19 year old one minute, and then I was told I couldn't do the things that I liked. I couldn't go out to gigs, ride my bike, be around my friends, eat out, or get tattoos.

"As soon as I could, I went out and started getting tattoos. I've got a Grim Reaper with 'Not Today' on it and I'm proof you can keep going, and that cancer won't beat me. Anything can happen - you can go outside and a bus can hit you, so you've got to keep going and ride it 'til the wheels fall off."